A Quick Look at the New LCS Structure

The League Championship Series (LCS) in both North America (NA)
and Europe (EU) has finally returned, Rosters? Locked. Schedule?
Locked. Hype? Locked. Changes? Wait…

This season has brought with it tons of changes that have
already been looked at, ridiculed, analysed and so forth on the
changes to the structure of the LCS. But now that they are really
here and have been implemented, I must say that I am quite
impressed. Many have come out in support of the changes, both fans
and players alike, due to the amount of practice it is giving NA
and EU as we head towards another world championships at the end of
the year. Cloud9 alone played more games in one week of the LCS
then they used to do in an entire split alone. Let me remind you,
more games in one week than the entire amount of games combined in
the 2016 Spring Split. That is crazy in itself.

As a viewer, it is equally exciting. We are guaranteed more
matches to watch every week and see how the professionals take a
hold on the new meta and format. There has already been some drama
with Origen unable to get a good start in the first week and a lot
of us (including yours truly) are hoping they can improve.

So are all the changes a grand plan for NA and EU to storm the
stage? Well, sort of. Most of the changes have accredited to more
play time for the professionals, but it seems like Riot Games are
still using this split as a testing period to see which method is
best to take up for both regions, either the best of two or best of
three format. With both types of series having their advantages, at
the present, it does feel like best of three might be the best way
moving forward to promote more games played in a competitive
environment and bring it closer to the Korean format that has been
going on for quite awhile now.

Regardless of how things turn out, it feels like we have a lot
to look forward to this coming split as we head towards the world
championships in the US and it is anyone's guess on who will make
the final cut.